


She Needed More Than Words

by SilverThornFeather



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-16 20:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1361518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverThornFeather/pseuds/SilverThornFeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick Jane had entertained many a thought since the demise of Red John. Two years worth of them to be precise. But never, had the great Patrick Jane ever imagined that he would lose her to another man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jane

Patrick Jane had entertained many a thought since the demise of Red John. Two years worth of them to be precise. He'd imagined the way the sun would reflect off of her dark hair, of the way her skin glowed under the soft illumination of the desk lamp in her office back at the old CBI headquarters. But never, had the great Patrick Jane ever imagined that he would lose her to another man.

Agent Marcus Pike. The very name sent shivers up his spine, raised hackles like a cat at the mere sight of him. No one had expected that. One minute he was just some smarmy old FBI Agent from God-knows- where, the next minute there he was snuggled up to Lisbon on her old couch in front of Breakfast at Tiffany's on a Saturday evening. Not that he'd been spying on her or anything.

Sure, he'd not done anything to suggest he wanted their relationship to ever surpass the platonic stage, it was "More than Words" after all, but that didn't mean he hadn't wanted it. After two years of abstinence from the woman who had saved his soul from ruin, the sight of her sitting there in Abbot's office, hair curled around her shoulders, eyelashes kissing her soft pink cheeks almost had him running for the hills, Lisbon in tow, screaming out that he loved her from the very depths of his lungs until he passed out from the exertion. But when he caught sight of her beautiful green eyes, he saw something that he'd never seen before. Disappointment. And he didn't know how to handle it. So he hugged her instead, forcing her eyes away from him and up over his shoulders so he wouldn't have to look any more. Then there was the stupid in-flight conversation that had nearly torn his heart to shreds.

"You... You ran away again, Jane. Not from the FBI, you ran away from me again.

"Yeah, but I ran back!"

"How was I supposed to know? I thought you were gone again, for ever."

"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry, Lisbon. I didn't think about you."

"Well you rarely do."

"Well that's not true.. I made you one of my demands. I'm not joining the FBI unless they make you a job offer."

"That's my point. What makes you think I'd want to work with you again? You are difficult and exhausting, and maybe I don't want to put the rest of my life on hold to be your sidekick. Have you ever even thought about that?"

"No. I hadn't considered it."

"You think you know what's good for my life. But you haven't been a part of my life for two years."

He should have seen it coming. She'd withdrawn from him, retreated. Content to let Fisher do the investigating as she sat running background checks or, even more painfully, going out with Cho on stakeouts.

And then all of a sudden, her smile was back. There was a spring in her step and her eyes began to sparkle. He'd be lying if he'd said he wasn't happy for her, but he'd also be lying if he said he was gutted it wasn't him that put it there.

He knew he'd taken her dancing. By the way she hummed jazz songs in the kitchenette. They'd gone bowling together after work. Because he came to pick her up. And he knew he'd slept with her, by the soft glow in her cheeks and the bashful smile she sent his way. That one was the worst. Knowing that he'd lost the chance to run his fingers through her hair, to kiss his favourite freckle, to suckle on her collar bone which he knew would drive her wild. And all because he was afraid, of letting go of his mistakes made long ago.

Patrick Jane had entertained many a thought since the demise of Red John. Two years worth of them to be precise. But never, had the great Patrick Jane ever imagined that he would lose her to another man.


	2. Lisbon 1

Lisbon had entertained many a thought since the demise of Red John. Two years worth of them to be precise. Dreaming about the day Patrick Jane would inevitably walk back into her life, a trail of devastation in his wake. But never did she expect to fall for another man. 

Ok, she maybe she hadn't fallen as such, but she was definitely on the way there. 

Agent Marcus Pike. He was handsome, with a strong jawline and big arms which when encircled around her waist made her feel safe. 

Safe. That was how she would describe him. He wasn't likely to run off and murder a man with his bare hands, wasn't about to sleep with another woman just to pry information from her about her lover, wouldn't leave her stranded on a beach after all but confessing his feelings for her. Not like Jane. 

Jane. 

The man she's involuntarily set out to save from a lifetime of depression, to snatch from the grips of grief he'd been infested with ever since they'd met. And the only man she'd ever loved with a passion so deep, one glimpse of his beautiful smile had her falling in love with him all over again within seconds. 

And then he'd left her. Again. He killed a man in cold blood – deservedly though it was, and left her at the mercy of the FBI while her career as an agent was torn to shreds in front of her. Left her with nothing, save for a garbled answer phone message that she didn't get until the FBI had interrogated her and her team. 

“I'm going to miss you” 

But then, out of the blue, the letters came. 

“Dear Lisbon.  
I hope this finds you well. All is well here. I have my routines. Weather’s finally turned. It’s a little cooler, far from cold. But the ocean’s still warm. And with the warm motion currents comes an abundance of sealife. Just yesterday I watched a pod of dolphins play so close to shore I could almost touch them. They’re the kind of things I think you’d enjoy.” 

And she read one every night for two year straight. 

Just when she thought she was over him, there he was, waltzing into her life without a care in the world. Almost as if he'd never been gone.  
But he had. She knew it best of all.  
At first she was thrilled to see him, his wild beard making him look so handsome she couldn't stop herself from nibbling at her lip – wondering what it would be like to run her nose across the stubble along his jaw.......

And then the anger set in. She remembered being stranded on a beach, feeling as if he'd stolen her heart all over again. Remembered seeing the other women he'd flirted with, without so much as a glance in her direction. Remembered Lorelei. That one hurt the most. No sooner had he told her he loved her, there he was rolling around in the sheets with another woman.  
Just another lie to add to the count.

So she turned away from him. And found comfort in the arms of Agent Marcus Pike. 

She knew he was jealous, it was hard not to notice, but she kept her distance still, hoping that he would leave her be, leave her alone to test the waters of her new relationship. 

She knew he'd noticed she'd been on a date, afterall her hair was still straight from the night before, knew he'd realised they'd been dancing because he was there in the kitchenette as she'd been humming the tunes from the Saxaphone Bar in town. And there could be no denying that he knew she'd slept with him, because the minute she walked in he'd simply stared at her before throwing his mug across the sink and storming out of the room. 

Lisbon had entertained many a thought since the demise of Red John. Two years worth of them to be precise. But never did she expect to fall for another man. 

Because the man she wanted had let her down. 

Again.


	3. Jane 2

The wedding was to fall in the Spring. Winter whites melting into soft muted greens, bright pink blossom lining the boulevards and streets. 

He'd stayed away from her for almost 6 months (Well, 5 months, 4 weeks, 2 days and 3 hours to be precise – not that he was counting or anything) by the time the ceremony had rolled around. They'd hired a large church, picturesque white with a small steeple set far back towards a meadow of wild flowers. 

It was then, that he decided that he had to act now, else were he to lose her forever.

He'd tried to reason with her,tried to tell her she was making a mistake, that she shouldn’t commit to something if her heart wasn't completely in it, she'd left one fiance, surely she could find the courage to do it again.

“what would you know about my heart Patrick Jane?” she'd said, one afternoon belonging to late October, after she'd returned home from a mandatory dress fitting, to find him sitting on her doorstep.

“Please Lisbon! Just....”   
“Just what? Patrick?” she said irritably.  
“Just hear me out” he pleaded.

She cocked her head to the side, giving him the once over before allowing him to continue.

“Lisbon, you're making a mistake - “ he began,   
“Excuse me?” she said incredulously   
“You can't marry him!”   
“Why on earth not Patrick Jane?” she shouted, her hands grasping either side of her hips, eyes narrowed.   
“Because I......” he paused then, the three words he'd so longed to say perched on the very tip of his tongue. He looked into her deep green eyes, the colour of spring ferns, saw the hope that glistened there, shining like thousands of constellations of stars. He reached down to grasp her hand, needing the comfort of her touch, the firmness of her skin. And that's when he felt it. The erratic beat of her pulse beneath her wrist, fluttering like thousands of wings were trapped beneath her skin. And he realised that he couldn't risk losing her again, to not have her skin beneath his hands, to never taste the ripe plumpness of her lips, to feel what it would be like as she fell apart beneath him only for him to put her back together again.  
She looked up at him from beneath dark eyelashes, eye filled with both fear and anticipation,dark with desire. 

“Because I love you. And God help me I want you.” 

He remembers her staring at him, shock,relief and something akin to devastation all over her face, then she looked away. Dropped their clasped hands and removed her fingers from his. 

She looked down at the floor,

And walked away. 

TBC


	4. Lisbon 2

Lisbon had heard many a thing in her life that'd made her doubt everything she'd ever known, 40 years worth of them to be precise but never more so, than the day Patrick Jane had told her he loved her. 

She remembers it as if it were only yesterday, rather than the two weeks it had actually been; when she came home to find him perched on her doorstep looking decidedly worse for wear. 

“Lisbon, you're making a mistake - “ he'd began, before she'd even got a chance to greet her unexpected guest.  
“Excuse me?” she'd said incredulously   
“You can't marry him!”   
“Why on earth not Patrick Jane?” she shouted then, all of her suppressed rage coming up to boil all at once, her hands grasping either side of her hips, eyes narrowed.   
“Because I......” 

And then he'd said it.

Before her whole world came crashing down around her. 

She'd all but bolted, heart racing a mile a minute, she didn't know what she was doing or where she was going but all she knew was she needed to get away from him. Her feet pounding on the pavement, each step she took carrying her further and further away from him. She could hear him calling her, hear his footsteps behind her, he too breaking into a run. She knew she was faster, he could beat her long distance but she knew he wouldn't be able to keep up a full sprint. She heard the footsteps die down, the last bout of her name being screamed at full blast and the ear splintering silence that followed. 

She found herself in the foothills of Mount Bonnel and was increasingly grateful that she'd had the foresight to keep her mobile with her so she could call a ride. If she were being completely honest with herself, she wasn't at all surprised to find herself here, it was a place she'd come to love over the past year. 

She climbed all 106 steps to the top with ease and arrived at the stone courtyard which graced the summit just in time to watch the sun begin to dip low beyond the horizon, though she wished she hadn't as the memory of the beach came flooding back to her once again:

“You have no idea what you've meant to me, what you mean to me”   
“Oh, I almost forgot, I've got a surprise for you, I’ll just pop back and get it” 

The only surprise she'd received, was the sound of screeching tires and billows of sand blowing up all around her. The only gift, a broken heart. 

She remembers the trip to the hospital, seeing him lying there, still and gaunt, face void of the joyfulness and cheer she was used to. 

The answer phone message was the hardest to recall. Knowing that she was probably never going to see him again felt like someone had torn the heart out of her chest – though she knew this was silly, for Jane had taken her heart with him long ago. 

And now, after all this time, here he was, offering his heart to her openly and completely.   
And here she was, alone, crying on a mountaintop, engaged to be married to a guy she didn't care all that much for, when the man she loved more than anything was waiting for her to finally come home to him. 

If anyone were to ask her how she got to Jane's trailer park at 11:30 on a Friday night, she probably wouldn't have the slightest idea where to begin, yet there she was, banging on the door to Jane's “Silver Twinkie” air-stream with all her might. 

“Jane! Jane open up! It's me!” she shouts. 

It takes Jane less than half a minute until he has the door of his trailer open and his arms full of Teresa Lisbon.   
“I thought you didn't want me” he says into her hair, gripping her waist so tightly he's afraid he'll leave bruises.   
“I always wanted you Patrick Jane.” she sniffs, looking up at him, her eyes full of hope and anticipation.   
“Then why didn't you just say so?” he says softly, tipping her chin up towards him.   
“I..I was....I was afraid.”   
“You don't need to be afraid any more Lisbon. I've got you now and I don't ever intend to let you go.” He says, his voice filled with such sincerity Lisbon had never heard before.   
“Good.” she says, reaching out to finally, finally, run her fingertips through his stubble. “because I don't plan on leaving any time soon”. And she swears she has never seen such a beautiful smile.

He tips his face towards hers, inclining his head towards her, to gain better access to the plump firmness of her lips he'd so longed to taste. She puts a soft finger between them both, when they were no more than a width of a hair away

“I love you too Patrick Jane!” She whispers, before he lips are claimed by the one man who she'd longed to hold forever. 

Teresa Lisbon had heard many a thing in her life that'd made her doubt everything she'd ever known, 40 years worth of them to be precise but never more so, than the day Patrick Jane had told her he loved her. 

And thank God he had. 

The End.


End file.
